Automobile-seat cushion



L. DOLL.

AUTOMOBILE SEAT CUSHION.

APPLICATION FILED .IAN.2 4, I921. 1,382,596, Patented June 21, 1921.

INVENTOR:

i provide comfortable seats.

LOUIS DOLL, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

AUTOMOBILE-SEAT CU SHION.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 21, 1921.

Application filed January 24, 1921. Serial No. 439,573.

of the United States, residing at Los Anis necessary to open the covering of such a Figs. 1 and 2.

geles, in the county of Los Angeles and State of California, have invented a new and useful Automobile-Seat Cushion, of which the following -is a specification.

This invention relates to so-called upbolstered seats.

One of the objects of this invention is to Another object is to provide comfortable adjustable seats.

Another object is to provide air cushions 01' bags within the upholstery of a seat, thereby avoiding a sagged appearance of seats, making the seat refillable without requiring repairs or much eflort.

Another object is to make one andthe same seat adaptable to people of various weights by allowing a regulating of the cushioning facilities of the seatso as to provide equal comfort and support for such different people.

.Other objects will appear from the following description and appended claims as well as from the accompanying drawing, in which- Figure 1 is a detail general cross sectional view of the device seen in the direction of the arrows 1-1 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 2 is the assembled device seen from the underside, partly unlaced.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary detail side elevation of a spring attached to longitudinal wires instead of to a frame, this being a slightly modified form of the illustrations in F i. 4 is fra entary detail top plan view of the iiiodifi e d form in Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is an end elevation of an assembled seat with the back hinged to the frame work of a vehicle or automobile so that the underside of the back may be reached for attending to the air bags. y

With the customary seats and cushions of this type it is very common that the top appears pressed-in or sagged after being used tosome extent.

Normally, when a seat becomes sagged; 1t

seat so that the filling material may be rearran ed or re lenished. This naturally is g P 7 perforations 16 are provided, so that the rather troublesome and requires quite an amount of work and knowledge to some extent. c 0

The device disclosed in the drawing is therefore designed with the idea in view of malntaming the comfortand appearance of a seat as originally provided.

he semi-pneumatic construction illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 hasseveral advantages over the common spring seats. It allows a replenishing of the seat to retain its original firmness in the top surface. It allows also an adjusting so as to make the seat softer or harder to provide proper support according to choice or requirements. The seat is provided with a suitable number of air bags or containers 6 along the central portion of theseat, that is, at points where the mainpressure and Weight is to be sustained. These bags are preferably disposed between the several layers of canvas in the seat, but, naturally, other supporting means for the bags may easily be arranged as, for

instance, by making the bags of material of a strength to be attached to the frame work of the seat directly.

A semi-pneumatic arrangement is illustrated, but naturally not absolutely necessary. Theframe work of the seat can easily be designed so as to support only the air bags. The preferred arrangement is, however, the rim or frame work resting on springs and supporting the air bags.

The frame work of the seat (preferably) is in form of a rim 7 to which the edges 8 of the supporting flaps 9 and 11 are engaged. The engaging of the flaps to the frame work may be by nailing, gluing, or in any other similar suitable 'manner, since this really does not affect the principle of this invention.

The edges 12 of the flaps 9- and 11 are provided with eyelets 13, so that these edges may be laced in the manner illustrated in Fig. 2. On the end pieces of the frame work, eyes 14 are provided to support the. ends of the lacings 15. This means that the lacing is commenced practically on the level with the top of the frame 7. The flaps 9 and even level. a

In one of the flaps 9 and 11, a number of customary valve of the bags may be reached without having to lace or unlace the flaps for adjusting the air pressure inthe bags,

-to bring and maintain the top surface in an with an air bag at every point where a person is to sit, but even this may be modified being illustrated on i illustrations it is eas ly clear so as to have several proportionally smaller air bags at every point where a person is to sit, so that, if one of such small bags breaks, enough .air bags are provided to support a person under all conditions. On the other hand, there may be one air bag to reach over a larger area to support several persons.

A top sheet 17 is provided to come over the bags, so that the .customary filling of seats can be placed over this, as ndicated at 18, under the seat covering 19, so-called French plaits being most commonly used for such covering.

To protect the air bags "from being torn or subjectedf'to unnecessary strains when laced in, protecting flaps 20 are provided on the end members of the frame 7, and another protectingfiap 21 is provided on onev of the flaps-9 or '11, in the drawing it the flap 9. From these that these protecting flaps prev'ent or at least tend to prevent-a cutting of the lacings into the bags while the lacings are closed.

portion of With this arran ement, a seat can easily be adjusted to con orm to the choice of the user as to its hardness, as will easily be understood from the above.

, The frame 7, though naturally of some solid material, does not materially inconvenience the user since jlthe air bags are 1D the position to form vthe main supporting the seat. Suitably thick padding 22 is placed over the edges of the frame work, which with the filling 18 and covering 19 forms proper cushioning material in the edges of the seat.

The foregoing specification covers the main and preferred deta1ls of the invention,

but, to make the seat complete and comfortable under all conditions other details and arrangements are provided. Springs 23 are provided under the frame work 7 forming a cushioning support for the frame 7. The base 24 is provided to support the springs 23.

The air bags 6 can then naturally best be reached from the underside, and for that reason it is thought most suitable to have the perforations 16 in one of the flaps 9 or 11. But, naturally, perforations may just as well be provided through the sides of the seat passing between adjacent springs so that the pressure in the bags may be controlled without having to lift the seat for reaching the bags of the seat.

In Fig. 5, a normal arrangement of a seat is illustrated, 25 designating the seat proper and 2 6 indicating the so-called back. In case that the perforations 16 are provided in one of the flaps" so as to make it necessary to handle the bags from the underside, the seat 25 must naturally be lifted and turned over for such handling of the air control, and the back 26 too must be turned over. It is therefore advisable to from the underside provide a hinge 27 so as to always hold the.

back in proper relation to the seat proper and improper relation to the frame work 28 of the vehicle or place where such a seat is being used so that the back'26 may just be tilted back and forth when adjusting the air bags within the back.

In Figs. 3 and 4, a slightly modified form of interconnectl'on between the springs and frame work is illustrated, showing that it is not absolutely necessary that the frame work must be of board-like material, but

may just as well be of wires 29, to which the springs 23 are secured as by binding. wire or other similar means 30, This con struction and arrangement forms eventually a lighter seat and device of this type. i

The frame 7, illustrated in Fig. l easily does away with securing means, 'sincelthe first spirals or coils of the springs23 may be slipped into the channel-like construction of the frame 7 so as to firmly engage the several springs.

Having thus described my invention. I claim I i 1. In a seat, a frame, flaps extending from the frame centrally having means along the innermost edges for interconnecting the several flaps adjustably, a cover over the top of the frame and over the flaps, and

air containers between the cover and the flaps for maintaining a desired top by supporting the air containers by the flaps.

2. In a seat, a top having a covering and having adjustable flaps below the covering,

air containers between the covering and the flaps-,and springs below the edges of the top.

3. In a seat, a top having a covering and having flaps below the covering, air containers between the covering and. the flaps,- connecting means for the flaps for holding the air containers against the underside of the covering, springs under the edges of the top and a frame supporting the whole.

In testimony that claim the foregoing as my invention I have signed my name 1n the presence of two subscribin witnesses.

LOUI DOLL.

Witnesses O'r'ro H. Kmmeiaa, Jiissm A. MANOGK. 

